PHIL Gartside is so nervous watching Wanderers play these days that not only does he miss out on the enjoyment but he finds it difficult to pass judgment on performances.

Asked if this Djorkaeff-Okocha inspired team is the best he has ever seen since he first went to Burnden Park as a schoolboy, he defers to one of the heroes of the 1958 FA Cup winning team who is fortunate not to have the pressures and responsibilities of chairmanship.

"I don't enjoy watching football like I did when I was a supporter," says the Reebok chief, "but Roy Hartle tells me this is the best team we've ever had and if Roy Hartle is saying that, there's something in it.

"What I do know is that we have some fantastic world class players. I've never seen a team of Bolton Wanderers' players who have had the recognition this team has got.

"Let's be realistic, we have had an image for 40 years and we can't change that overnight."

Two years of Premiership football is a start, though, and a source of pride for Gartside who takes exception to the claim that he and his directors lack ambition because they do not pay big money transfer fees.

It irritates him that he has to defend himself against such a charge but when Sam Allardyce vented his frustration at the club's financial position - £40 million in debt - it appeared the manager, who wants more money to spend, was at odds with his chairman, who cannot give it to him. But that is definitely not the case.

"Sam's just frustrated," he sympathises. "We are all as frustrated as each other at the debt burden and the way we have to run the business. Frustration is not unique to a football manager. We'd all like to equip ourselves with the things we want but you can't spend money you haven't got."

So Allardyce must carry on the good work and try to keep Wanderers in the top flight on a relatively tight budget while while his paymasters whittle away at the debt, which is costing the club around £2 million a year in interest charges.

"Chris Kamara said on Sky TV that we were just a top quality striker short of being a top eight side but I don't want people getting the idea that we'll be going out and buying Ruud van Nistelrooy," the chairman said, bringing a touch a reality to the debate.

"We aren't budgeting to get into Europe, we're budgeting for survival. If we survive a second time it will be fantastic. Then we'll be looking to survive a third and so on.

"That's where we are at. We aren't filling the ground and that's disappointing because we are playing such entertaining football.

"I'd like more people to come and watch us because I know they will be entertained but I'm one of those who remembers the Darlingtons on a Tuesday night so I'm happy to have grown attendances back to an average this season of 24,000. "

The chairman flatly rejects suggestions that Wanderers have been over-cautious on the financial front. In attracting the likes of Djorkaeff, Okocha and Ivan Campo, the wage bill has rocketed to £20 million a year.

He added: "The football side of the business has been given every possible support that can be given - from members of staff, pre-season tours, training facilities etc. We've even over-spent on the wage budget this year to give ourselves a chance of staying in the Premiership.

"Since I've been chairman, we've been spending more on football than we've been receiving in football income. That's why we've lost money - not because the other areas haven't been performing.

"We've done that deliberately because we've been trying to sustain our position in the Premier League.

"We've deliberately spent more than we've had coming in with the confidence that we have financiers who are prepared to back that strategy. But there comes a point where you can't do that any more. You have to balance the books.

"So next year will be very much of the same as we've had for the last three and a half and it will be more of the same until we know what the new TV deal will bring.

"But, barring one or two clubs, we all have the same problem. We are competing, like for like, with Charlton, Southampton, West Ham, Tottenham and probably Leeds now after their recent problems. Taking the debt aside, we are all in the same position of struggling to balance revenues and costs."

Allardyce has won widespread admiration for achieving success on a tight transfer budget, spending only a fraction of the likes of Manchester City, who Wanderers' comfortably beat in Saturday's Reebok derby. Despite his frustration he has an excellent working relationship with his chairman who put the club's recent progress into perspective when he said enthusiastically: "Why change a winning formula? We've had three great years."

Recent form and results have raised hopes that Wanderers will secure a third Premiership term but they have contingency plans if they should fail in their survival bid, which should avoid the financial catastrophes endured by the likes of Ipswich, Derby, Leicester, Bradford and Barnsley.

"We currently have one forecast for the Premier League and one forecast for Division One - and the Division one forecast is not pretty," the chairman admitted.

"It would be difficult but none of us wants to go down that road. We'd have to restructure the whole thing again - but that's a fact of life.

"The difference in TV money alone would be £16m to £18m - so if you want a reason why we've speculated this year on wages, that is it.

"But you can't throw pots of money at it. You still have to be prudent. Borrowing the TV money was something we had to do to try and secure our survival.

"We aren't happy having the debt but it's like having a mortgage. We'd like it to be less and we'd like it to be spread over a long term. As it is we have a £40 m debt with around £60m worth of assets and as long as we are paying the interest, we're okay.

"The stadium, the hotel and the offices are long-term assets we believe will give us a balanced business.

"Actually, if we were in the Nationwide League we'd be earning more money from our other businesses than we would be earning from football!"